Rescue Team
by Archer'sEnsign
Summary: In the wreckage of Engineering, Trips' broken body is found...
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own S.T. borrowed a cooking tip from Queer Eye although....and I hope diabetics can have smoothies without going into shock....  
  
Birthday Brigade  
  
Jonathan Archer had it all planned down to the lighting in each corner of the Mess. The kids, with the supervision of Hoshi and Chef, were decorating the cake. They were adorned with glitter balloons every six feet along the top of the ceiling. The decorations of streamers (made of multi- colored replicated crepe paper, was being done by Malcolm and Travis. T'Pol was assigned making mini-p.b. and j. sandwiches, making homemade vanilla-and-strawberry-swirl ice cream, and mixing the fruit punch and limeade with the good Doctor bumbling in her way at every step. This was what the room had looked like the last time he had checked from his personal dining area. He had left several datapads on the table, and while holding another two under his right arm, had walked around the room, and smiled so happily. "Now Travis, if we are not going to make the children dizzy we must alternate the colors according to a precise rainbow scheme." "Don't you want to mix it up a little, Lieutenant?" "No, I don't want to "mix up" anything, I want things to properly put in their place." "Well alright, will do it this time but next time we gotta experiment a little."  
Archer swung around into the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe watching Hoshi hold up a little boy to reach the tabletop. He was stirring batter with a very concentrated look and Hoshi kept sneaking whiffs of his hair from the top of his little, round head, and then hugging him. "You're squeezing me again, Hosh...why do you keep doing that? You're silly." "Only because I've fallen in love with you, you little gremlin....now add the sugar, and keep beating the cream until it forms peaks." "What are "peeeeks"? "Little mountains with pointy tops, kind of like T'Pol's ears but don't tell her I said that." "Alright. Does that look good? It looks like the facemask you were wearing the other night, when I ran into you're room to scare you with my wolfman mask and you scared me instead. That wasn't supposed to go that way!" "I'm sorry but didn't we laugh about it afterwards?" "Yeah, it was pretty good especially when we snuck up on ol' Trippster in Engineering, to make him take a break from working so dern' much! Man, he never stops talkin' about that dang engine of his!" "Have you heard yourself just now...you could be his kid, you sound just like him"  
This caused Hoshi to shed a tear because she and Trip had just broken up a month ago and their friendship was on rocky terms at best. The tear dosed the boy's left ear, and he instinctively leaned back, and snuggled into Hoshi's chest, for he knew what her crying was about. Internally he felt it was all Trips' fault even though he didn't know the details and the Trip ought to say he was sorry. "Well, the guy kinda grows on ya'...or you. Now I have to knead the dough, then mix the seven types of food coloring into frosting in different containers. Then do were really have to let the younger kids decorate the cake? How do you know they won't mess it up?" "They'll do just fine. Whatever happens, it will be a beautiful cake for Alina. Trip's daughter is a very special girl and she is already so happy to have all of your town's children visiting our ship, that this will be her best birthday ever." (Alina was the result of a surprise pregnancy. The surprise being that even though Trip was a human male, he ended up carrying the child to term and being a single parent, since Alina's mother had been killed by an attack from the Xindi. Although the crew loved and as well as fought over babysitting/tutoring responsibilities for the child!)  
The Mess Hall was shaping up, thought Archer, and he turned to see how the Doctor and T'Pol were doing. "This punch will not go well with the particular flavoring of the intended cake. The sweetness will make the punch incredibly ...what is the human word?" "Fragrant perhaps, my dear?" "Tart." "Oh, that may not go over well indeed. We'll just order the drink dispenser to replicate an extra allotment of milk. Isn't it a crying shame we don't have an actual earth cow on board the ship? We could have the children get up early, and teach them how to milk just like their ancestors did long ago. " "Children of Starfleet officers do not milk cows." "It would be a good lesson of discipline, and enjoying the fruits of one's labor." "Where would we put this creature? Surely not in one of the cargo bays. It is reserved for shuttlepods and storage containers, not animal husbandry." "It is a shame though....the hydroponics bay is far too small and engineering is already taken. What about the Armory?", Phlox secretly whispered to the stoic lady "It would be advisable never to repeat that phrase again while in such close proximity to Lt. Reed. He penchant for exploding devices would come too close in contact for your personal comfort, Doctor." Archer overheard this conversation, and chuckling to himself walked up to the duo. "Why don't we come the mayor of Kalljaala, and have some fresh milk transported up from the town. It isn't past noon yet, and the milk is sure to be fresh as the early dawn.", Archer said as he spread his arms wide in emphasis. "A wonderful idea, sir...I will open a channel with the request right away.", bustled the Doctor. He then nodded to T'Pol and the Captain, then stepped away.  
T'Pol looked at Archer quizzically, and replied, "Thank you sir...I am not sure there would have been enough time for me to meditate the Doctor's ramblings from my mind." "No problem, Sub-Commander. Why don't you ask Chef to set up an open bar, we could use it with all the guests we're about to have on board." "You are preparing to have the children imbibe alcohol, sir? It is highly inadvisable and I as a Senior Staff member will not allow it", said T'Pol as her hand hovered above the Captain's neck. "Whoa, whoa, slow down there....no, it's for the kids, I mean yes, it's for the kids but it's going to just be fruit smoothies...now take your hand away from me, for God's Sake...1/3 of the kids attending this party are diabetic, so they won't feel left out in the desserts." "Very well, will the children get to select which ingredients to put in their "drinks"? "Yes, they will have complete control. Let Chef know he'll be in charge of it. Now I have to get Porthos ready for the party, he's going to deliver the presents, well the small ones, in a wagon that will be harnessed to him. I tried it out on him already last night, and he knocked over several Gamma shift crewmen in the hallway. Oh boy, I'll never try that again." "I would say certainly not, sir." Later on that evening, the party was in full swing, and that wasn't just the style of music currently playing on a replicated jukebox. The kids were dancing with crewmembers or rather on their feet, and holding hands. Some were even being dipped and swung by the more athletic ones such as Malcolm and Travis. Hoshi had a group nestled around her, with the birthday girl on her lap. Ribbons were tied in Hoshi's hair and there was a smudge of dried fruit smoothie on her cheek but she did not care one wit. She was having too much fun. Next to Hoshi, sat T'Pol, with several ribbons of her own, who had two little boys with frosting-caked mouths, in her lap. Several times the two had tried to tickle the serious Vulcan and every time she thwacked the backs of their heads with her pointer finger and thumb. This caused them to shriek with gobs of laughter and snuggle in closer, much to her sweaty appearance that was apparent to onlookers. Just then, the Captain came panting over to the group, followed by one of the townspeople from the planet. The fellows name was Aryan. He had a small boy on his back, who had fallen asleep even in the middle of the celebratory ruckus. Archer had two small boys on his back, who were continually climbing around the Captain, while still clinging to his upper half of his torso. "Got any more room for some squatter?", quiered the out-of-breath Captain "Sure, bring them into the inner circle.", replied a startled Hoshi, who then smiled. "Where'd Daddy? He should be by now!" burst out Alina. "Well, honey, you're right. He was suppose to be here an hour ago. I'll go to a Comm.Unit and page him. Do you want to stay with Hoshi and open some more presents?", said Jonathan "No, I want to come with you Pappa." (Alina had taken to calling Johnathan this name even though he and Trip weren't an item but with Johnathan taking care of Alina in his spare time, he was pretty much joined to Trip at the hip.)  
Johnathan crouched down and lowered the boys into the pile of kids, then reached out for Alina. She crouched down on Hoshi's lap, and sprang into the captain's open arms. He laughed, hugged her close, and ambled across the room.  
Leaning against the wall, and holding Alina on his right hip, he hit a button. "Archer to Tucker."  
Silence, and some odd buzzing from the other end, which should be coming from engineering, since that was most likely where Trip had been last. He might have lost track of time, he had been doing that a lot lately, and several crewman had had to cover some extra babysitting shifts. Not that they complained but it put everyone else in a shuffle with the schedule. The was what created grousing among others who had been lined up weeks in advace to care for Alina. It was all sorted out but Archer made a mental note to talk to Trip about his tardiness. "Captain Archer to Commander Tucker, please respond."  
Again nothing but static. At this Alina looked at Johnathan with big, doeful eyes and puckered her little pink lips into a pouty frown. Something was definitely amiss....Archer signaled a crewman who he recognized from Astro-Metrics, and told him to go down to Engineering with him to locate Trip. He walked back to a table that Phlox was sitting at with some of the village people. "I just tried calling Trip and he's not answering. Could you watch Alina, in fact take her back to her circle of friends so she can finish opening her presents. I'm taking Reynolds to see what's up with our Cmdr."  
Phlox simply nodded, and Jonathan had to pull Alina out of his arms into the doctor's. "I don't want to go with him, I want you and Daddy, please." "Dr. Phlox is your friend, you know him, hon. Have him tell you one of his stories about growing up when he was a little boy on Denobula. You'll like that. Daddy and I will be right back, I just have to go give him a lecture, then have him come back and apologize for missing so much of his own girl's 5th birthday party." Alina knew whining would get her nowhere with her Pappa so she just nodded o.k. Archer strode toward the door, signaled the crewman he was ready, and they both exited the Mess Hall together. What they would find would change their lives forever and those around them..... 


	2. Prequel

Kim Cambron Careen 04/04/04 Per. 1 Comp. 2 Pg. 60  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Trek; did use a version of Malcolm's namesake for a new aliens species and made a reference to the story Holes by Louis Sachar- a really good book and nice movie, in my opinion! Plus a Daredevil reference!  
  
Runabout Run-Around  
  
Captain Archer looked at the mass of re-inforced plastic, steelized metal, and other strong insulating materials that were supposed to hold a shuttlecraft together. Unfortunately, this was one craft, which had been given the leftovers of other various ships. Very used parts, in fact. It was a hodge-podge of parts from freighters, alien shuttlepods, and transport cargo vessels. The other half of it, Archer couldn't even guess where they came from. Archer gingerly wiped away some smudges on the front window, and leaning over against the right side of it, he peered in. It appeared to be large enough for four people, and storage space for another six 15-gallon containers in its rear holding area. The rest of the inside was made up of multi-colored bulkheads, with a two main workstations up front. It had an orange-fire colored ceiling and blue-green walls that were lined with a fuzzy carpet material. The bonus was it had a two-man mini-transporter pad. The question was that was it even worth it having taking up space in the small shuttle. What was its' best working level or was it just for impressive looks? Archer pushed himself away from the side of the craft, and noticed he was immediately filthy. He just sighed. How was he going to accept this junk heap from the Malaconians? Archer had had the new aliens over for dinner the night before, cultural stories were exchanged, along with engineering and medical supplies from both sides. Then their new guests had insisted they give the E-crew this vessel for them to conduct research on different alien species they had met and had assembled bits and parts they had been given over the years. Their leader, Cosiaz, had told Archer it had taken his engineers 10 years to gather and construct all the parts into this "fine, sturdy craft". Archer had his doubts and knew he could not refuse this offer since he and Cosiaz had already traded much-needed goods for both sides of their people. "Well, I appreciate the offer Cosiaz but I think my head engineer will have a hard time making this "runabout" -did you say? Um, run smoothly..." "It is no matter of great difficulty, I assure you Captain. It is in good working order and my people won "First Delcect"-prize, for it in last spring's competition. It is a contest we have every year, against our cousins across the river. There is much food and dancing at night but during the day; a crowd in the stands watches a team of engineers from both sides constructs a shuttlecraft of miscellaneous parts they have gathered over the last year. This is a great honor to have in possession the finished product of a race of five days work. I assure you Captain, it may not look grand but it is sturdily built. Since you have become fast friends of the Malaconian people, you must accept this gift. I would be greatly hurt if you did not." "I would never want to disrupt good relation with new allies, Cosiaz. I just worry about replacing parts of it in later years." "That is carrying on the tradition of the contest of Delcect, Captain. There are other crafts that were built dozens of years ago, that are in sacred rooms of museums across our planet. They are still maintained by our volunteers, it is a program that our children must complete as a course in their school studies when they reach early adolescence." "I wish I could have had such a special course in high school." replied Archer. "Since we are mainly an engineering society, Captain, it makes perfect sense to practice this tradition. It provides our young students with the discipline to use whatever tools they are given in life and adapt them to their immediate needs." While the Captain and his guest had been talking, Trip and Travis had been walking around the craft, taking scans, sighing, and biting their lower lips to keep their comments to themselves. It wasn't working though. "This piece of junk isn't even fit for ol'Port to use as a litterbox!", whispered the Cmdr. to the Ensign. "I know but we need to make as many allies here, around the borders of the Expanse as possible. Maybe the doctor can use it for sleeping quarters the next time he goes into hibernation." "The doc would break an arm when those mini-couches in there collapse under his weight and he's lost 20lbs. these last two months to boot!" "Plus it strangely smells of organic onions. Just like in the movie last night. Have you read the book, it's great!" "There's a book too? I'll have to download it tonight and start reading it to my girl. She sure loves our bedtime story hour.", replied the blond man. "Well, it's up to the Captain. We'll have to accept it then maybe we can set it down on some distant moon later, about 10 light years from here." "I don't wanna have to cart this thing around for a couple of months. We need the space in here for more supplies. We suppose to meet with another three new species this month alone!", the engineer proclaimed. "Yeah, I here ya' bro. The good thing about this is that we get to study new alien technology; Hoshi was able to download fifteen new languages from the mish-mash of the computer databank. She's been on the bridge for ten hours straight and shushing the crew every five minutes. Malcolm walked over to her with a Tea Service to give her a break and she simply made him sit down and used him as a food cart while she worked and munched on her snack! It was too comical! You should've been there, she even used his sleeve as a napkin when he tried to add sugar to the tea she was sipping!", noted Travis. "Ha, that woulda' been neat to see; but back to this scrap heap. What in god's name are we going to do with it in the meantime?" "Maybe....yes! The kids could use it as a playhouse! They'd love it!" "It looks kinda dangerous to me, it could collapse on them. You've been staying up too late reading your comic books again, haven't you?", mutter Trip. "O.K. I did but that has nothing to do with this. I checked the structural integrity and it will definitely not fall down. Its' only welded together in a hundred spots and forty percent of it is a strong metal that I've never seen before. Being raised on a cargo ship, I've seen every kind of metalized substance. This stuff is tough." "Alina has been whining about needing a place to play and she's just starting to learn some new engineering vocabulary in class. She's having trouble understanding it. Its' like if she holds something tactile in her hands and says the name, she understands it right away. That's my kid, always gotta get her hands on some art or science project.", said Trip laughingly. "The older kids, the ones who have been doing real-life engineering projects, could use this bucket of bolts to figure out how to fit different alien parts together. Kind of carry on the tradition of the Malaconians, and embrace another culture. Plus become better engineers for the deal of it.", smilingly said the younger man. "It reminds me of the movie we saw the other night, where the girl's father had her train with a different martial arts teacher every year so she could adapt at any fighting technique thrown at her. What a great flick!" "Well, it seems we're stuck with the craft, so yeah, I'll go ahead and set up some labs with the older students.", replied Travis Just for good measure, Trip gently but playfully kicked the side-door and the whole craft shuttered and let out a billow of dust. When Captain Archer went to the other side to see who had caused that strange thud, he only saw the backs of two of his Senior Staff, exiting the cargo bay very rapidly. Oh, and the younger one was frisbeeing a datapad at the older one's head... 


	3. Turkey Day Ch3

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Trek, I wrote the chapters a little out of order (this is the 3rd chapter), so now I have to do research for the 2nd chapter. Give me some time to gather the meat of the story...  
  
Turkey Day  
  
Alina Tucker made her way from her bed to her closet. She pulled back the door and gazed at her new holiday dress she was going to wear that evening. She was looking forward to a nice family meal since nothing had been the same since her father's accident in Engineering. Her brave, chipper father had been very sad and frustrated these past couple of months. He was slowly sounding like his old, joyful self and even making jokes about his present condition. No, the fact that he was now confined to a wheelchair for life wasn't about to beat down his spirits. Trip Tucker was known for being inventive in his engineering career and he applied those same skills to getting around day to day in his new lifestyle. Trip had learned a hard life lesson about being on time for important events and that "just five more minutes" could almost cost a person their life. The crew of the ship had rallied around him fiercely and made the ship accessible for him on every single deck. They added ramps to doorways, installed lower-placed door-activating button-pads, and installed three lifts in engineering alone; including one to the additional catwalks surrounding the warp core. Each morning a different member of the crew showed up to help with his shower, get dressed, and load up the backpack attached to the back of his chair with datapads he would need for his days' assignments. They even walked with him down to the Mess Hall and had breakfast with him. Usually he had an almost full table and the Captain hadn't been able to have a private dinner with him because of the younger man's new social schedule!  
Smiling Alina thought of the crew and how they all got together to let her Dad know he was still a much-needed member. She pulled up a stool to her closet, stepped upon it, and reached up and got down her dress. She next pulled out her new, matching sweater from the lower drawer of her dresser. She laid them on her bed, and went to get dressed in her school clothes. After she was dressed she gathered up her books, and went to the Mess Hall to have breakfast with her Aunt Hoshi. Later in the evening, Alina wondered into the Mess Hall and went straight to the kitchen to help with mixing the cranberry sauce with Chef. He looked quizzically at her as she entered and blew air out through his tight lips. The Captain had actually ordered him to let the children of the ship be in charge of the whole Thanksgiving Menu and he was just astounded that he had ended up with this mission in his life. Alina pulled up a stool, reached for the cranberries, sugar, allspice, and ¼ cup of cream, and began mixing the ingredients. "You're doing that much too fast, slow down and get a good rhythm going .", commented Chef. "I'm doing a good job but I'll take you advice and think about it. Are you always so cranky?", pondered the small girl. "Only when I have unexpected guests in my kitchen." "Well, ya' better get used to it, pally.", a strong voice called out. "Daddy! You surpriseded me!", cried Alina as she bounded into Trip's lap and hugged him tight. "I know, sweetie. I thought you'd like some company that won't be such a worry-wort about his own personal space." "Chef and I get alone just fine, Pop. Remember when we made that birthday cake for Travis? It turned out super!" "It sure did, darlin'." Alina was happy to have her father and his friends, no their whole family, share this special day with her. As she climbed off her Dad's lap, and got back up on her stool to got to work on her cranberries. As she worked and finished that project, then moved onto the mashed potatoes, people drifted in and greeted them with supplies they had brought to decorate the Mess Hall with. Malcolm came in and carried out a stack of dishes for the tables. Hoshi dashed in after him, hollering about watching what he was doing, snatched up some tablecloths and candlesticks, and then dashed out after him. Travis came in, swooped up Alina, and gave her a big kiss on her cheek. She squealed and blew a raspberry in his ear, causing him to burst out giggling. Trip quirked his eyebrows at actually hearing a male crewman giggle and decided he somehow blackmail Travis about it later. Finally after Travis left with the wine glasses, Captain Archer came in and gave Trip a shoulder squeeze and Alina a gentle pat on the head. Yes, Alina was so happy to have such a happy, wonderful, emotional family. Even T'Pol was prone to let the little girl get behind her and brush her hair before her bedtime story. The celebrating a Traditional Earth Holiday was a good break in her life aboard a starship, even though she wouldn't trade it for all the stars in the galaxy... 


	4. Rescue Team Ch3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Star Trek, just writing some stories for creative temperment...plus used some technobabble from Next Gen. Technical Manual pgs. 18 & 24 plus Spark Charts on Human Bone Structure  
  
Jonathan walked down the hall at a rapid pace, followed by Lt. Reynolds. Halfway to Engineering, he pulled out his communicator and paged Cmdr. Tucker again but got no response. This made him hurry even more.  
Suddenly the ship shuddered, and alert klaxons started going off like blazes. Ignoring the piercing sound, Archer radioed the bridge. "Report!" "There are dozens of micro-fractures along the centerlines of both the outer and inner hull structures due to too much stress in the duranium macrofillament truss frames. The excessive stress was due the deep age of the metal, they are the original ones , which make them at fifteen years old, sir.", replied T'Pol "I don't care how old they are, Sub-Commander! Why weren't they replaced early-oh-never mind! Get us to slow down to impulse and take the warp core off-line if you have to just to stop us from shaking apart!", hollered a desperate Captain. Archer was worried about this part of his ship being heavily damaged because it was the main frame that held the whole ship together. He was even more concerned about the adjacent trusses that were located on main impulse engine sections, right in the heart of Engineering. As Archer raced down the hall, vaulted into the turbolift towards the bridge, he also realized that certain that near the main truss supports, more than a few utility conduits were also being held up by these frames.  
Archer knew he needed to head to the bridge and sent Lt. Reynolds to help out in Engineering. Normally he would have sent Reynolds to his post at the Armoury but Johnathan had a feeling Engineering needed more help today than the infamous Torpedo Bay did. The rest of the MACOs were assigned to report to the Armoury and could help out plenty, being they were cross-trained for emergency postings.  
Archer sprinted out of the turbolift as it halted to the bridge and practically pushed the imparting doors away from each other as he pushed out of the small space. He had not been aware of any claustrophobic issues during his training for Starfleet but a bout of it flared up his senses to his frustration at not knowing the statis of one of his treasured Senior Officers.  
Archer swung into his chair and nodded to T'Pol for a report.  
  
"The primary truss frames have been stabilized by force fields that Lt. Reed fortunately finished installing only last week. The secondary frames, the aluminum crystalfoam stringers phase-transition bonded sealant has all but deteriated when the anomaly impacted the ship. Many pieces of the ship, inside Engineering to be exact, have been shaken from their holding places. "  
"What primarily fell apart in Engine-" Before Archer could get the rest of his sentence out, Reynolds radioed the bridge.  
"Sir, it's a terrible mess in here, I've called Doctor Phlox for Medical Emergency in Engineering ten minutes ago, as you left me on B Deck. There's fires being put out everywhere, lots of dangling wires and busted conduits strewn about the floor, and I don't see Cmdr. Tucker anywhere."  
"Just keep on looking, Reynolds. I'll send half of the team of the original Armoury staff and the other half of the MACOs to help pitch in."  
"Confirmed, sir."  
Archer sat down in his chair and looked at Hoshi, who bit her lip and forced herself to take several deep breaths. Travis kept staring straight ahead at the viewscreen and Lt. Reed was re-checking the readiness of the weapons to keep from fidgeting in front of his superior officer. Archer forced himself to pick-up a data pad then asked T'Pol to read off the damage reports coming in from around the ship.  
"Unfortunately sir, communications through the ship just destabilized after you talked with Reynolds. If you want to go take reports yourself, I will take care of the Bridge while you are gone, to help allieviate your tension about any missing crew, whomever they may be."  
"No one in particular, though, eh T'Pol?"  
"It would be prudent of you to locate Cmdr. Tucker's whereabouts since he is our Chief Engineer, and he would be diffilcult to replace."  
"Aye, aye, Sub-Commander", Archer replied as he exited the bridge. Inside he leaned his back against the wall of the turbolift and swore if anything happened to Trip, he would need some serious mental therapy of his own. Although they hadn't announced to the crew, their, by now, very serious relationship. He tried to be fair about treating Trip like an equal officer of the crew. It had taken two months of composing and presenting a dissertation on the positive effects of relationship between the crewmembers onboard a starship. He even included non and enlisted personnel. Trip had been really proud of him for that and they had celebrated over fried catfish and steaks just last week at the win over the old Starfleet obsolete regulation. It had properly been thrown out the window, never to return again. Plus the joy of getting a daughter, from Trip's very own self, was a great gift to add to their family. Even Porthos enjoyed being walked by Alena more on some days than his own owner.  
  
Archer got to Deck E where Engineering was located and upon touching the doors to the entranceway, he found they were searing hot. He ripped off the sleeves of his uniform, lucky it was one of his older ones and did not even realize it was also one of his favorites. That was very beside the point concerning how his old favorite was being given a great last rite of passage to help other people, since Archer wound the ragged sleeves around his hands and pried open the doors to Engineering.  
Archer was greeted by a scene of hell. Fires sparked out of side paneling, wires hung every five feet with open, blue blazing ends in midair, and crewman racing around with injured over their shoulders and clinging to their waists. Archer leaped over a scorching river of flames, ducked under a catwalk to avoid a shower of sparks, and leaned over and picked up a fallen crewman. By this time, Phlox's Medical Team was also hop-scotching over hot spots, loading people onto gurneys, almost running into each other like bumper cars due to the high number of causalities being taken away to the safe haven of Sickbay.  
Archer placed the unconscious female engineer, Ensign Gellaher he recognized, onto a gurney just as it slid up in front of him. He turned around and paced cautiously to a melting pile of wires and metal.  
"Sssstatis...", mumbled Archer as a scored, and badly burned engineer ran up to him.  
"The stringers that were holding up the parts that supported the deflector shield grid and it all knotted together with wiring from the subspace radio attennas. Also our main fushion preburner blew straight out of the wall, and added to the mess. The magnetic quench block is ruptured and the transfer duct/gas combiner was spilit in half. If you don't mind sir, I'd like to sit down or lie down, something, please sir. I'm actually not gonna be like the rest of the engineers and not say I'm not injured.", replied Ensign Naguro. She kept wincing and clutching her right hip area, although she kept integrating it with tightly pressed lips which short, gasps of air escaped between.  
"Yes, of course, let me help you,", suddenly yelped Archer and practically lifted the girl into his arms and transferred her into the arms of Dr. Phlox himself. Dr. Phlox ran off with the women, laid her down on an empty, soon to be exiting gurney, then cautiously approached the Captain. He came up to the taller man and watched alongside him as mostly MACOs with heavy-duty power drills and electro-magnetic chainsaws started to cut through the mass of fried metal in the middle of Engineering.  
"Half of the Engineering Team was injured in this incident and I will be frank with you, Captain. We have not located Cmdr. Tucker and I'm afraid I know the exact spot where he is.", said Phlox gently ushering the Captain toward the shrunken pile of debris.  
Archer crouched down and pulled away some of rubberized tubing that had melted across a spilit nozzle head.  
"I know this can't be easy for you; I've been aware of your relationship with the Commander for a while now and I'm happy for both of you. I will do the best I can to help him recover once we get him out of there.", sighed Phlox.  
"You mean, he's still....he's o.k.?", said an astonished Archer.  
"His biosigns are weak, and although he may have massive internal injuries, I'm about to give up on him just yet."  
Suddenly Archer dove head first into the rubble and pulled out a hand which he clutched mercilessly. He kissed it and rubbed his thumb over the calloused knuckles, while the Doctor tried to elbow his way in through the small gap to get closer to the Cmdr. Phlox was able to reach out and touch the right cheek of Tucker's face, and felt for a pulse under his neck to be sure. He would not try to rouse him awake as it was better the younger man was unconscious so he would not be aware of his broken body.  
"Evans, come here with a saw immediately. We have to get Cmdr. Tucker out quickly, his pulse is constantly thready. ", Phlox called to one of the MACOs.  
Evans gently physically set the Captain aside and begun shearing off the top of the "roof" over Cmdr. Tucker's head, then dismantled one of the sides. This widened the hole that Archer had found Tucker through and Archer once again got close to his partner. He started pushing debris out of the way, and throwing it over his head with such force that many of the EMTs stood back or circled round the Captain's side to help. There were six people at once pulling wires, breaking apart hardened plastic, and even bending softened metal to get Tucker out from his prison.  
Finally the team had cleared enough room for Phlox and an assistant to crawl in. Phlox immobilized Trip's head with a neck and back-brace, then with another EMT lifted him onto a waiting gurney. Archer helped realease the brakes on the roll-about and positioned himself at the head of the gurney, and started rolling it out the door without waiting for anyone's invitation to join him. The EMTs had to scramble to pack up their gear, and run to catch up to the Captain. They caught up with him half-way down the hall, and all of them with Phlox in tow managed to squeeze into the lift.  
During the ride, all was silent except for Phlox and one of the Med. Techs named O'Connell, scanned Trip and conferred to each other.  
"There's a severe crack in the Vertebral Column, going across the Atlas C1 and Axis C2, and the Inferior Vertebral Notch and Intervertebral Foramen are shattered for the first top three Cervical Vertebrae. Also on the Thoracic Vertebrae, the Transverse foramen and Body bone have just turned to dust, I surmise since I can't even pick up scans of fragments of them. At least four of the middle ones. We'll have to get him into the Imagining Chamber to get a much more detailed look.", whisphered Phlox to O'Connell.  
The lift arrived at C Deck, where Sickbay was located. The doors whooshed open, and once again, Archer took the helm in steering his beloved down the hallway. He kept a grim look in his eyes and stared blindly ahead as he almost ran down crewman in his path. Dr. Phlox hurried to keep up with him, and kept looking at his scanner and frowning the whole time. The doctor had his scanners hooked up to his main computer in Sickbay so that by the time the Rescue Team had gotten there, there would be a more detailed list of the injured injuries' awaiting them. Plus also the medical procedures lit up on a monitor in the case that the Doctor was unable to take care and charge over his patients himself.  
The whole team pulled into Sickbay and came to a gentle but bracing halt near the bed of the Chamber, which was already pulled out by the staff who had been awaiting their arrival. Archer got to Trip's head, with a Tech. on Trip's left, and Phlox at the feet. Together they lifted Trip gently onto the bed and Phlox started the scans. Immediately, the screen showed what Phlox had concluded in the turbolift. It also showed that the Right Hip Joint Lateral of the Illium and the Illiac Fossa had been crushed, along with the Left one barely holding together for all the cracks that ran through out it. The Commander's Right Hip/Knee Interior Femur had spilt in half, along with his Tibia breaking apart in two places. The same was for his Left Hip/Knee and was twice as much for his Tibia—it broke in six places. The three main aspects of his feet, the Right and Left Foot Planatar Flexor Digitorum Longus Tendon and the Flexor Hallucis Longus Tendon had ripped apart along with the Peroneus Brevis Tendon in his left foot.  
"Also his hands took a rather ingenious beating; the bones of the his right hand, from a Dorsal View, the Lunate b. and the Capitate are broken in four spots along with the Proximal Phalanges of his left being cracked in two different places in each finger."  
As each item of the Tucker's broken body was read-off, Johnathan had just sat down and clutched his head in his hands, whimpered to himself. Many of the medical team averted their eyes away from him and continued with their work. They made sure the Commander was comfortable and well sedated for a while, as when he did have to wake-up it would be in excruciating pain. "There is a chance that Trip will recover, Captain. I can as they used to say in the old days sir, "rebuild him." His Nutrient Arteries will need extensive repair and he will be on an i.v. for several months just to keep him either hydrated or for his medication. I still have some samples of the Nano-Probes I harvested from that Borg we had on board the ship a while ago. They will help with creating new neural pathways to his newly fused spine and bone structure. Plus anchor his new structure together. He will require two months of bed rest but, knowing the Commander I'll be lucky if I can make him stay put for half a month. I also know that the crew will want to help participate in to take care of him as is he is going to need much "in-home care" after I'm "forced" to release him from Sickbay. There will be no deficient amount of volunteers I assure you, Captain. Apparently the Comms are functioning again because I've already gotten notes from my Med. Techs that all of Engineering and the MACOs have sent messages regarding Mr. Tucker. It seems they have all forgotten there's a ship to take care of, their so emotionally involved in the Commander's all- out recovery. It is such a great show of human spirit!", exclaimed Phlox. Archer listened to all of this with great resignment. He thought about all the rough Away Team encounters, long repair nights, and fierce alien attacks Trip had been through and decided that in a good way this would be a way to keep him from out of so much trouble. Sure he could still help out in Engineering, he had always been a great supervisor. They'd just have to figure out a way to make it all-accessible for him to get around in. At least two lifts would have to be installed and Trip would insist on one of them leading up to the main controls of the warp core. Johnathan laughed at this idea, and found out that there was a whole list of new projects to start accumulating so that the whole ship could be made Trip- friendly. Johnathan came to grips that his best friend and partner could be in a wheelchair for possibly the rest of his life.... 


	5. Waking Up Ch4

Trip awoke to a searing pain in every other part of his body. His left leg was unable to respond to the commands his brain sent to make it move. His right arm could barely get his fingers to bend at their knuckles. He knew he was in terrible shape but figured it must be sedatives and Phlox would be lowering the amounts in the next couple of days; in short, he thought he could return to Engineering by the end of the week. He pondered over repair lists that needed to be updated and had a sure guess on where his repair teams were on fixing up Engineering. He remembered the catwalks crashing down upon him, and the smoky smell of waking up in the rubble. He had a good guess it was Johnathan's hand that had found him in the pile of mashed metal. He also remembered hearing buzz saws cut away the harsh pylons and warped conduit-shelling that had encased him in his unwanted tomb.  
As Trip turned his head slowly, he found he had a crick in his neck. Well, he could get Johnny to take care of that. He carefully breathed in and out, his chest felt sore and he surmised he had a couple of busted ribs to boot.  
"Ah, I see you're awake, Commander.", said a cautious Phlox  
"Yep, not feeling so dandy but still in one piece, eh Doc.".  
"I fear I have most unfortunate news, Mr. Tucker".  
"There's no need to be formal, Doc. You know it's me.", laughed the young man.  
"Well, thank you, Trip. Before I tell you your exact condition, let me call the Captain. He expressed his extreme need to be hear when you heard the news."  
  
"You make it sound like it's something real bad, Doc. I know I'm pretty torn-up but I plan to be out of here by the end of next week. If you'll let me teach you that Earth game, poker, like you promised I could, I'd stay till the middle of next week, buddyroe.", conned Trip.  
"Trip, I will take you up on your offer and just to prepare you for the news you're about to receive, you will be playing many rounds of poker with me, I must tell you.", answered Phlox.  
Phlox went over to a nearby wall-comm unit and paged the Captain.  
"Sir, Commander Tucker has woken-up and now would be a good time as any to come down, so we can brief him together of his all-out condition."  
"I'll be right there, Doctor.", answered a hesitant Archer.  
Dr. Phlox looked back to Trip and simply just smiled, then pulled up a chair, and began reviewing scans of Trip's busted body to pass the time. He did not saw a word as to what he was really reading on the datapad.  
Captain Archer walked in and slowly ambled over to Trip's side.  
"I hear there's an officer here who wants out of here quite soon.", said Archer as he leaned down and rested his elbows on the left side of Trip.  
"I'd like to get back up on my feet within two weeks, Johnny but, no longer than that. I couldn't stand that."  
"Well, dear, it's going to be much longer than that and there are some-aspects of...your new condition...that you're going to deal with on a permanente level. We're all going to help you make adjustments to you new standard of living that won't infringe on your duties as an officer, Trip."  
"You sound like its so final, John. Am I really that bad a mess? I couldn't imagine anything worse than a few busted bones and some super stiff joints."  
"I'm not going to give you any fake excuses about your condition, Hon. There's going to be...a period, maybe indefinitely....that you're going to have to use a wheelchair but, even that's a couple of months away because you need severe bed rest in the meantime. I even have made some contacts back at that Durandi outpost we visited last month, to bring on some of their people as a permanent addition to the crew to help out with the extra work-which is to be totally expected-so the rest of us can fight each other to take care of you."  
Trip just stared into Johnathan's eyes, gulped, and had a few tears trickle down his cheeks. He took a few deep breaths and leaned back down, and stared at the ceiling, not saying a word. Johnathan pulled up a chair and sat down, to wait until the news had sunk into Trip's psyche.  
"How are the new people gonna help out? They're not Starfleet.", finally said Trip.  
Thank God he's taking this o.k., he must not want to know the details, thought John.  
"I plan to give them a crash course in Starfleet basics and even cross-train a couple of them to help out the MACOs. They'll start out as Ensigns and work their way up "the corporate ladder" just like everybody else. They're really enthusiased to start out a new life for themselves and very sorry it is under such sad circumstances. Although Headquarters gave their approval sooner than they'd like to on this, they figure they could put it off a few years till our "casualty stats" were too high...", Johnathan trailed off because of a crack in his voice.  
"Well, I guess this is the way it's gonna be, babe. Can I ask just one thing?", questioned Trip.  
"Anything, you know that..."  
"Can I have Porthos as my Disabled-Service Pooch?"  
Johnathan burst out laughing and leaned down and planted an amorous kiss square on Trip's smiling mouth. 


End file.
